New Carlisle manager Mark Hughes insists his players must “keep on believing” after a 1-0 defeat at Newport left them still rooted to the bottom of League Two and now six points from safety.
Substitute Kyle Hudlin scored the only goal of the game to earn the Exiles a fourth successive win and condemn the visitors to a fourth straight defeat – their 19th of the season and second under Hughes.
It was a miserable return to his home country for the former Wales manager, but he is staying positive with 16 games left to play.
“We’ve got plenty of games to come,” said the Cumbrians boss, who replaced Mike Williamson last week.
“We’ve got to keep on believing. I’ve got great belief in the guys; they’re a good bunch and they’re giving everything.”
Hudlin scored the only goal of the game in the 76th minute with the Exiles’ only shot on target.
“It was a frustrating night,” added Hughes. “I thought it was a decent performance. We had some good attacking play, got bodies in the box, and I feel for the guys because they’re not getting the breaks that their football deserves.
“We had 33 touches in the opposition box and 15 shots and with those numbers you expect something to drop for you, but at the moment they’re not.
“Then the opposition go up the other end and score with their only shot on target. It does seem a little bit unfair at the moment, but that’s football unfortunately.
“We just didn’t have that cutting edge. But we can’t let it affect us, we can’t be downbeat. At some point our luck will change and we’ll go on a run like Newport have done.”
Nelson Jardim’s men are up to 14th and are now 16 points clear of the bottom two after what has been a flawless February so far.
“It feels good,” said the head coach, who admitted his side were fortunate to take all three points.
“The hard work is paying off now. We just have to carry on with the good work and I’m sure better wins will follow.
“Every League Two game is difficult, and we had to battle.
“There is a good atmosphere in the stadium and in the dressing room, and when it’s like that it’s always easier to work.
“Sometimes you work hard and don’t get what you deserve and we went through a spell where we were probably playing better and not getting the results, so we all enjoyed celebrating what was a massive win for us.”
